Author of "WHEN LIONS ROAR: The Kennedys and Churchills" and author/producer of "MASTERS OF SEX", the book which is the basis for the Showtime series. I can be reached at:
ThomasMaierBooks@GMail.com

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Thursday, May 3, 2012

"Masters of Sex" Series Would Include John Madden on Continuing Basis if Get Green Light. "I also admire American television, particularly cable television. They seem to be able to do things that movies can’t do."

What attracted you to directing the pilot for the Showtime drama series Masters of Sex?

Madden: Well, the answer is that it came to me as a script, and the script was really terrific. I thought it was very, very interesting. [William] Masters and [Virginia] Johnson were part of my past. It took me 30 pages to realize that’s what it was about. I kept seeing the word “Masters,” and then seeing the word “Johnson,” and I thought, “Oh, hang on!” I think I was a prurient schoolboy whenHuman Sexual Response was published in the mid-60′s, and we all rushed to get it, thinking it was going to be erotically interesting, but it wasn’t at all. It was all maps and graphs and data. But, it’s a very interesting story because the personalities and the relationship between those two characters is very interesting, nevermind the whole idea of demystifying sex, which is essentially what they did.

[Alfred] Kinsey began that journey, but his studies were all based on documentary interviews. They witnessed it quite literally because their studies were clinical and aimed to understand the physiology of sex, but some of the processes that were involved in doing that were outrageous and extraordinary, from a modern perspective. They were funny and interesting and, obviously, erotic. It just seemed like a very interesting project. I also admire American television, particularly cable television. They seem to be able to do things that movies can’t do. Masters is a complex character, who is not always sympathetic and not always doing things that you would ever allow a character to do in a movie because you can’t let people fall out of love with the people they’re watching. The longer form allows you to investigate things in really interesting ways.

Will you continue to be involved with the show, past the pilot?

Madden: I’ll have an ongoing relationship with the project, if it gets taken up. I think it’s looking promising. It’s really good.

And, it’s got a really great cast of actors.

Madden: Yes, Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan are great [as Masters and Johnson].